746 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



Flamingo. A genus of web-footed birds 

 which may be regarded as in some respects inter- 

 mediate between the storks and the clucks, their 

 long legs and necks giving them a resemblance 

 to the former, while their webbed feet connect 

 them with the latter. There are nine species of 

 true flamingoes. Their food appears to be mol- 

 lusca. spawn, grass, water plants, insects, etc., 

 which they fish up by means of their long neck. 



They breed in companies in mud-flats or 

 inundated marshes, raiding up the mud into a 

 small -hillock, which is concave at the top so as 

 to form a nest. In this hollow the female lays 

 her eggs, and hatches them by sitting on them 

 with her legs doubled up under her. 



The young, which never exceed three in num- 

 ber, do not fly till they have nearly attained 

 their full growth, though they can run very 

 swiftly and swim with ease almost immediately 

 after their exclusion from the shell. The com- 

 mon American species is of a deep red color, 

 with black quills. It is peculiar to tropical 

 America, migrating in summer to the Southern, 

 and rarely to the Middle States. 



Flax. A fiber obtained from a plant belong- 

 ing to the order Linacece. Common flax (Linum 

 untatisriimtm) is an annual plant, with a slender 

 erect stem, two or three feet high, which is 

 grown in large quantities in Italy, Russia, Sax- 

 ony, Belgium, Holland, and Northern France, 

 but is not cultivated to any great extent in this 

 country. After being cut, and allowed to dry, 

 the flax undergoes a process called retting, in 

 order to remove resinous and glutinous sub- 

 stances, and disintegrate the woody portions of 

 the stem. The flax is steeped in water, and after 

 a time a process of fermentation sets in, by which 

 the resinous and glutinous substances are decom- 

 posed. The fibers are then freed from portions 

 of woody matter, and separated one from an- 

 other by a process known as scutching. The 

 seeds of the flax plant are also a valuable article 

 of commerce. 



Flea. A name for several insects regarded 

 by entomologists as constituting a distinct order 

 Aphaniptera, because the wings are inconspicu- 

 ous scales. All the species of the genus are very 

 similar to the common flea. It has two eyes and 

 six feet; the feelers are like threads; the oral 

 appendages are modified into piercing stilets 

 and a suctorial proboscis. The flea is remark- 

 able for its agility, leaping to a surprising dis- 

 tance, and its bite is very troublesome. 



Flounder. One of the flat-fishes, family 

 Pleuronectidce, genus Pleuronectes or Platessa, 

 the common flounder being the Pleuronectes or 

 Platessa flesus. It is one of the most common of 

 the flat-fishes, and is found along the shores of 

 almost all countries. The body is extremely 

 flattened at the sides. Flounders have been 

 successfully transferred to fresh-water ponds. 

 They feed upon Crustacea, worms, and small 

 fishes, and are much used as food. The Argus- 

 flounder is the Pleuronectes argus, a native of the 

 American seas. 



Flower. That part of a plant in which the 

 organs of reproduction (stamens and pistils) are 

 situated. The parts are arranged in whorls. 

 In a complete flower the outer one consists of the 

 calyx, formed of one or more leaves termed sepals; 



the next is the corolla, composed of one or more 

 petals; the third whorl is formed by the stamens, 

 and the innermost of the pistils. Sometimes 

 there is only one whorl of floral leaves, and then 

 the flower is said to be monochlamydeoux; if 

 neither whorl is present, it is termed achlnmy- 

 deous. If both calyx and corolla are present, 

 but so blended together that they are not easily 

 distinguished, the floral envelope is called a 

 perianth. Double or semi-double flowers are 

 those, in which through the effect of cultivation. 

 what should be stamens are changed into petals. 

 as in the rose, camellias, carnations, etc. The 

 colors and odors of flowers are subjects in the 

 investigation of which physiologists have not 

 yet been able to go far. The chemical products 

 on which they immediately depend are partially 

 known; but how the chemical changes are 

 wrought, and what various purposes they all 

 serve as to the plant itself, can scarcely be said 

 to have even begun to be ascertained. Both 

 colors and odors are more or less owing to the 

 action of the sun's rays. They also are some- 

 times modified by soil; and diversities of color 

 have been obtained in cultivated flowers by 

 changing the soil in which they grow. 



Fly. A winged insect of various genera and 

 species, whose distinguishing characteristics are 

 that the wings are transparent and have no cases 

 or covers. By these marks flies are distinguisl ie< 1 

 from beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, etc. The 

 true flies or Diptera have only two wings, viz: 

 the anterior pair. In common language, fly is 

 the house-fly, of the genus Musco. The house- 

 fly is found where.ver man is, and in hot weather 

 causes a good deal of annoyance. It is furnished 

 with a suctorial proboscis, from which, when 

 feeding on dry substances, it exudes a liquid, 

 which, by moistening them, fits them to be sucked. 

 From its feet being beset with hairs, each termi- 

 nating in a disc which is supposed to act as a 

 sucker, it can walk on smooth surfaces, as a ceil- 

 ing, even with its back down. The female lays 

 her eggs in dung or refuse ; the larvae are small 

 white worms. They change into pupaB without 

 casting their skins, and in from eight to fourteen 

 days the perfect fly emerges. The very small 

 flies and the very large ones often seen about 

 houses belong to other species. 



Flying-fish. A name common to various 

 fishes which have the power of sustaining them- 

 selves for a time in the air by means of their 

 large pectoral fins. Generally, however, the 

 name is limited to the species of the genus Exo- 

 ccetus, which belongs to the family Scombcrcxo- 

 cidce (mackerel-pikes). The pectoral fins, which 

 are very large, are the principal instruments in 

 their flight, serving to sustain the fish tempor- 

 arily in the air after it has acquired an initial 

 velocity in its rush through the water. It can 

 pass through the air to a considerable distance, 

 sometimes as much as 200 yards, which it does 

 to escage from the attacks of other fishes, espec- 

 ially the dolphin. It is most common between 

 the tropics. The best-known species are A'.ro- 

 ccetus volitans, abundant in the warmer parts 

 of the Atlantic, and Exoccetus exiliens of the 

 Mediterranean. By some naturalists this genus 

 has been subdivided into several, characterized 

 by the presence or absence of barbels. 



